Chapter 4

Five Card Draw

The following night which is also a Friday night.

*Interior Plaza Capcom*

Sakura finishes up cleaning up after a kids birthday party. Then decides to play a game at the dance dance revolution machine before leaving. Sakura picks butterfly on hard difficulty. She gets a 240 combo 97,600 AA on hard. "Oh I'm on fire tonight" Sakura finishes up her shift and it's now 7pm. I wonder what happened with Ryu and Chun Li's training/ competition she thought to herself. She walks outside and sits down on a nearby bench. Sakura takes out her phone and texts Ryu to get the scoop on what happened with their match. "Hey how did you and Chun Li make out with your training/competition? Sorry I couldn't stay to see the results. Who won? Do you have any other competitions planned? Maybe we can do some team matches or tournaments?"

Sakura thought this sounded good and hit the send button. About a minute later Sakura's phone made a bopping sound. "Guess who won" was Ryu's response. Hmmm Sakura pondered to herself. He must have won just like I thought if he would have lost he most likely would have come out and said it. Sakura chuckled to herself and wrote "My money is on you." she then hit send. Ryu quickly texted back. "Ding ding. Right answer. You know how to pick em smiley face". I wonder if they hare having any other matches he still didn't answer that. Why didn't he answer that she thought to herself. A few minutes go by. "How did your test go?" Ryu asked. Sakura texted back "My test went pretty well I got an a A. So I'm pretty happy with that" smiley face."

Sakura then decided to take her bike back to her dorm and respond again later once she gets settled in. Her school room dorm is only about 10 minutes away. Around 15 minutes later Sakura got in quickly changed out of her work cloths and put on a red t-shirt and black sweat pants. Sakura then laid down in her bed and takes out her phone to see what Ryu had texted back. She heard her phone making noise on the way home but wanted to wait till she got in to look at it. She looked at her phone with an excited smile on her face; "Hey yes we are actually having a little challenge series a best of seven actually. We are currently tied at 1-1 a piece. Next match is tonight and I plan on winning it. I'll let you know what happens."

Let me know what happens she contemplated. He's not inviting me to the challenge. What is it a private match? Just what kind of a competition are they having she mused as she held her mouth open agape slightly. Sakura thought the best response was to tease him back. "Ha ha let me know. What are you having a private match? laughing face" send. Sakura answered back. Five minutes go by nothing. 10 minutes nothing. 15 minutes go by and Ryu responds.

*Five minutes ago Chun Li's Apartment *

Ryu and Chun Li are sitting at the kitchen table. Chun Li is wearing her purple qipao while Ryu has on his dark blue gi. "I told you she wanted to come and watch the next challenge". Ryu argued with a sigh. "Who could blame the girl? She doesn't know what kind of a game we are playing". Chun Li stated. I know Ryu thought I'll tell her we're all the way in America. "We're in Boston running the marathon or something?" Ryu suggested. "That's in April" Chun Li corrected. "Oh yeah" Ryu laughed while smacking his head. "I'll just tell her we're in China then she knows there's no way she could make it over here in time. "Sorry I'm out of the country in China at Chun Li's place. I wish you could make it" After 10 minutes Sakura texts back with "Well that's disappointing but I'm looking forward to hearing all about it and seeing the next match live and in person". Ryu answers back with "Looking forward to it". Ryu then put down his phone.

"You know I should really have the home field advantage seeing as I won the last match" Ryu heralded with a grin. "Yes but due to the circumstances we had to alter our plan. It's better this way so we are not distracted. If Sakura knew you were close by she would come over and try to sneak in and watch the match. Remember this girl stalked you and beat up Ken's bodyguards to get to Ken just to ask him where you live" Chun Li elucidated . "Good point" Ryu replied. "Hopefully moving forward the winners of the challenges are able to get their home field advantage if it's available". Chun Li explained as Ryu nodded his head in confirmation.

Chun Li sets up the cards and puts out some chips and Queso dip on the table. Ryu gets two beers out of the fridge one for each of them and he gives one to Chun Li while he takes the other. They tapped their bottles against each other and in unison exclaimed "Kanpai!" as they each took a drink. "Are you ready to light this candle?" Chun Li asked "Lets go! Game on!" Ryu decreed with a confident smile. Chun Li smiled back as she dealt out the cards. "The game is five card draw. After each hand the winner of the hand selects which item of clothing they want the loser to remove. Joker's are wild". Chun Li reported with a grin as she finished dealing. Ryu started off with a pair of 3's and Chun Li only had a pair of 5's and decided to fold. It went this way for a little while with one of them folding before betting.

Then they each agreed they had to bet at least one article of clothing to stay in the hand and then decide wither or not to swap out any of their cards. If they didn't stay in the hand and bet at least one article of clothing they would lose an article of clothing as a penalty.

Chun Li dealt the next hand they each had two pair Ryu had the Queen of Hearts and The Queen of Spades as one pair. His other pair was a pair of 8's. The 8 of diamonds and the 8 of clubs. Ryu with a little difficulty forces himself not to hum the song playing with the Queen of hearts and Chun Li looks at her cards. She has a pair of 6's (clubs and spades) and a pair of Jack's (hearts and diamonds) A decent hand but not a great hand she thought. Ryu would go on to win the hand as neither one got any better cards from their replacements. Ryu went on to win the hand and asked to Chun Li to take off her boots.

Ryu won the next hand as well with three Kings (Clubs, Hearts and Spades) while Chun Li only had a pair of 3's. (diamonds and clubs) Ryu then asked Chun Li to take her purple qipao off "Looks like it's my lucky night so far" Ryu beamed with a small grin. "The night is young" Chun Li retorted. She took off her purple qipao and now was wearing a red blouse and black jeans. "Feel better now you must have been really hot in all those clothes" Ryu teased back with a chortle.

"Laugh while you can this game isn't over yet" Chun Li decreed as she dealt out the next hand. Things started to change now as Chun Li quickly won the next two hands one hand was very close where they agreed to raise the ante and bet two articles of clothing which Ryu lost much to his dismay. Chun Li had four of a kind with four queens (three queens while one was a joker) while Ryu had a full house three aces and two 2's. By now they finished their beers and Queso and put them away.

The next hand Chun Li had a a straight 10-6 to Ryu's two pair 5's and 9's. Ryu gave a small sigh as he took off the top and bottom to his gi. There was a small argument over wither the top and bottom of the gi should count as one article or two but they finally agreed it was two separate articles. Chun Li then asked Ryu to take off his blue sweat pants. Ryu now sat in a red t-shirt, his head band and blue boxer briefs. "You must be getting a little chilly their hun. Want me to turn up the heat?" Chun Li asked with a snicker. "I'm not out of this just yet" Ryu spat back.

Ryu then did in fact battle back. He won the next two hands the first with a straight (7-3) while Chun Li had had a three of kind. (three 4's) The second hand he won with a straight flush 10-6 of spades to Chun Li's two pair 8's and Jacks of diamonds. "Holy crap that's the best hand I ever had!" Ryu boasted with a big grin. "Wow really good" Chun Li said with a big smile. Chun Li removed her red blouse and black jeans. Chun Li now sat in a white t shirt, with a purple bra underneath it and purple undies which had matched her purple qipao that she had removed earlier. They each had 3 articles of clothing remaining. It was all tied up. We're dead even" Ryu snickered. "It will be interesting to see who pulls ahead here". Chun Li indicated.

The next few hands went back and forth as Chun Li won with just a two pair 6's and 3's to Ryu's single pair of 7's. The next hand Ryu won with a three of a kind (two 7's and a joker) while Chun Li had nothing but crap. First Ryu took off his head band followed by Chun Li taking off her shirt. Chun Li was now only wearing a purple bra and purple undies. Ryu looked at Chun Li and smiled. She looks so beautiful he thought. "You look really regal in purple" Ryu cooed. "Thanks" Chun Li replied as she blushed slightly.

They then put they game cards aside and took a break for dinner and each had burgers. They had Teriyaki sauce and they used ground beef and had an egg on top and cooked the burgers quickly on Chun Li's Foreman grill. "Mmmm that is a tasty burger. I really like the teriyaki sauce Ryu exclaimed. Chun Li nodded affirmatively. After dinner they cleaned up and resumed the game.

They had come down to the nitty gritty they each had only two layers of clothing remaining. They were both so close to winning and at the same time so close to losing. "Well back to the game we go. Pretty soon someone is going be the big winner". Chun Li foreshadowed as she dealt the cards.

Ryu felt a sick feeling in his stomach as the looked at the cards he was holding. He had the Dead Man's hand Will Bill Hickok was holding before he was killed. Ryu had black aces and black eights. This has to be a bad omen he thought to himself. Chun Li meanwhile should have been in Vegas as she had three 7's (diamonds, hearts and clubs. They each traded in a card but gained nothing further. Chun Li won the hand and asked Ryu to take off his red t shirt. He now stood in just his blue boxer briefs.

"Well it's still close you can still make a come back" Chun Li confirmed as she got up and got each of them a water out of the fridge. She took one and give Ryu the other. Ryu took a drink. He was still reeling over the previous hand. He was silent for a minute and then replied "True you're not up by much" with a small smile. He tried to stay positive he knew he wasn't done yet. All he needed was one good hand then they were tied right up.

One good hand and then Chun Li would take off her bra or her undies. Ryu thought to himself yes I'm still very close. She looks regal now but she would look even better in her birthday suit. Ryu snickered to himself. "You okay over there Ryu? You're not cracking up now are you ?" Chun Li asked with slight concern in her voice. She was wondering if Ryu was loosing his composure now that she held the upper hand in the match.

"Oh I'm fine Chun". Ryu responded with a small grin. "Okay then". Chun Li responded nervously as she dealt out the cards again. Chun Li quickly bit her lip as received three 9's a joker and 6. Well I'm obviously only giving up one card her she pondered as she put on a good poker face however she knew Ryu would know that she had a great hand if she only gave up one card. Ryu meanwhile had a pair of aces, 7,4 and 10. Hmm I could work with this he thought. I'll keep the 10 and get rid of the 7 and the 4.

Chun Li dealt out the replacement cards Ryu got a third ace and now had three of a kind. He thought maybe there was a chance he could win if Chun Li was going for a straight and didn't get it. Finally they showed their cards. "Four of a kind. Wow you were really close Ryu. You didn't have a bad hand either you lost with three aces" Chun Li divulged. "A loss is still a lost" Ryu said with a small sigh. "But you played well you should be proud of yourself. I didn't completely kick your butt" Chun Li teased while sticking her tongue out at Ryu. "I'm joking" Chun Li added with a giggle. "I know" Ryu chuckled back. "So now as the winner. I get the grand prize of the challenge" Chun Li disclosed. "What's that?" Ryu quizzed. "Seeing you in your birthday suit and taking that rocket of yours out of it's hanger." Chun Li hooted. Ryu's eyes widened. "Really Chun?" he asked as he felt his bat begin to tighten at Chun Li's idea. "For sure now let's go the bedroom and take your rocket out for a ride". Chun Li cooed as they went in the bedroom.

They got in the bedroom and turned on the lights and proceeded to get into bed. Chun Li then teased Ryu as she worked Ryu's gun for while with his boxer briefs still on for a before finally removing them. "What about what your wearing?" Ryu asked wondering where exactly this was going. "Well unfortunately you were two bets short of me wearing the outfit you are" Chun Li cackled as Ryu made a slight frown. "However there's nothing against you touching the melons or the honey pot they're just not coming out for a full viewing if you catch my drift" Chun Li chuckled. "You're funny" Ryu replied. He was partially turned on, partially annoyed and partially amused by how everything was playing out.

Chun Li then worked on Ryu's lollipop for a while before heralding "See there's always a bright side. Guns can fired even in defeat just like a said" Chun Li exclaimed with a wink as she moved over to Ryu's face and grinned. Ryu proceed to kiss her lips and said "I love you Chun" as he playfully tapped her bottom. "Aww I love you too Ryu". Chun Li smiled back with a huge grin on her face as they shared a passionate kiss. Chun Li then worked on Ryu's gun with a flirty smile and asked "Sometimes loosing is not so bad now is it?" Ryu moaned back and with a big grin and proclaimed "Well this time I lost to the strongest and prettiest woman in the world so there's no shame in that". Chun Li turned a bit red and said "Awww" as they shared a deeply impassioned kiss. They both saw they saw fireworks and stars. It was incredibly cosmic for them both. While Chun Li's guided Ryu rocket towards it's launch sequence he caressed Chun Li's rear and throughly inspected her melons. They both moaned with delight. Chun Li fired off Ryu's gun three times that night.

Later they laid in bed together watching tv for bit. Chun Li chortled "Three firings of your gun for the three 9's I had. I didn't count the jokers". Ryu laughed back and they shared a hug and a kiss. Soon they faded off to a happy slumber.

Two Days Later

*Interior Suzaku Castle dojo*

Ryu, Chun Li and Sakura are all wearing their usual outfits and colors. The three of them are sitting in a row. Sakura (remember she's wearing her college uniform) is on the left, Chun Li is in the middle and Ryu is at the right end. The bowl of papers and the blind fold are in the floor in front of Chun Li. Ryu and Chun Li decided to invite Sakura over to watch the next challenge. Sakura is very excited and can't wait to hear about the results of their last challenge. "So who won the last match?" Sakura inquired. She was hoping Ryu had taken a second victory in row but was unsure because she knew Chun Li was a great fighter as well. Ryu and Chun Li each looked at each other and in union answered back "Guess".

Sakura mused about this for a moment. They had paused and looked at each other before asking me to guess. When Ryu won last time he quickly answered back guess. It must have been Chun Li. She managed to win. "Chun Li" Sakura proclaimed. "Yes" Chun Li responded with a small grin.

"How did you know?" Ryu inspected. "A woman's intuition. Mind powers". Sakura professed. "So now where going to pick the next challenge. I know you're going to ask how we're going to do that so I'll tel you. The winner of the previous challenge picks the next one. So Chun Li will decide it while blind folded so she can't do any peeking " Ryu disclosed. "I figured it was something like that considering the bowl and the blind fold in front of Chun Li". Sakura admitted matter of factly. "You're very sharp" Ryu assured. She then dropped the question Chun Li and Ryu both feared was coming. "Hey by the way what challenge did you guys do? Some kinds of sports activity like basketball or billiards?" Sakura inquired really curious as what to their answer would be. Ryu thought for a moment while Chun Li quickly modestly revealed "Oh just a little poker game". Sakura then thought really just a poker game.

I doubt their game could be that dull with how competitive these two are. It must have been something intimate that serious couples would do. Something like strip poker. I better say something quick to throw them off "Oh that sounds fun" Sakura remarked. Before she went back to her discovery. They played strip poker and Ryu lost. That means Chun Li saw Ryu in his birthday suit. They must have done something afterwards. Since they are such an intimate happy couple; Sakura pondered as she started to turn red. "You feeling alright Sakura?" Ryu asked concern. "Yes your turning red are you running a fever or something?" Chun Li inquired worriedly. Sakura quickly brushed them off "No I'm just feeling a little hot in here. Aren't you guys hot too? You should turn on the a/c or something. I need a drink". Sakura remarked as she ran over to the fridge and took out a bottle of water. She took a deep breath before opening the bottle and taking a little drink. She then let out small sigh and assured "I'm all better now" sporting a small smile. Ryu and Chun Li each nodded like she seemed fine but they were both a little nervous. They decided to let it it go.

After a few minutes Ryu gave Chun Li her blind fold and she put it on. She put her hand in the bowl and mixed the letters around for about 12 seconds before taking it out and looking at it. Chun Li gave a small smirk as she saw it was in Ryu's handwriting and it was another good one. Aside from his silly sleeping one he did have some good ideas. "This should be fun a one. Barrel Breaking". Chun Li marveled. "That does sound fun" Sakura praised in agreement. "So now Chun Li is currently in the lead" Sakura declared. "Yes Chun Li is currently up 2 to 1 but I think we're going to be tied up pretty soon". Ryu boasted with a small confident grin. "We'll see about that". Chun Li quipped back. "This should be interesting" Sakura gleefully applauded.

End of Chapter 4

Barrel Breaking is on deck for Chapter 5.

Stay tuned.